Our next regular meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9th at
7:00 p.m. in the Lyceum at the Center of Southwest
Studies. After a brief business meeting, Dr. Kerry Thompson,
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Applied
Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University
will present: “It's About Time that We
(Archaeologists) Recognize the Federal Indian Law
Context of NAGPRA”.

Abstract: In discussions
about NAGPRA by archaeologists, NAGPRA is often
taken out of context. As legislation in Title 25,
NAGPRA's context is federal Indian law, not cultural
resource management law, which resides in Title 16
(Conservation) and Title 42 (Public Health and
Welfare) of the United States Code. American Indian
legal scholars have long been involved in the
analysis of NAGPRA (e.g., Echo Hawk and Trope 2000;
Tsosie 1992) and, in 2012 published recollections
and analyses in an anniversary Arizona State Law
Journal (Volume 44 Issue 2) issue about
repatriation. Archaeologists are intimately involved
in the actual practice of NAGPRA and few, if any of
the discussions by legal scholars involve
archaeologists - Native American archaeologists or
otherwise. Greater understanding of NAGPRA within
the context of federal Indian law would assist
archaeologists in the areas of tribal collaboration
and consultation. NAGPRA and other dialogue that
brings tribes and archaeologists together may be
improved through the education of archaeologists in
the history of federal Indian law and policy.

Kerry Thompson is an Assistant Professor of
Anthropology and Applied Indigenous Studies at
Northern Arizona University. The primary focus of
Dr. Thompson’s work is applied archaeology,
specifically the use of archaeology to facilitate
residential and infrastructure development on the
Navajo Nation. Her research interests include Navajo
archaeology, federal Indian law and policy, and
American Indian identity.